Retail Insight on January 25th 2010

January 25, 2010

News for the retail industry

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News

Spencer's eyes global PE firm to sell stake Financial Express Talks with Europe's biggest retail chain Carrefour may have fallen through, but the RPG Group is in "serious dialogue" with an international private equity partner with retail experience to offload 15-25% stake in Spencer's Retail.

Trent plans to hire 4000 for its Star Bazaar stores Economic Times Tata group's Trent Hypermarket, is likely to hire over 4,000 people in its Star Bazaar over the next 14-months, a top company official said.

Infiniti expands Croma network, with two stores in Delhi, one in Mumbai domain-B Infiniti Retail Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, today unveiled two Croma mega stores and one `Croma Zip' multi-brand consumer durables and electronics chain, in Delhi and Mumbai. The Croma mega store spread across 18,000 sq ft and Croma Zip covering an area of 5,500 sq ft are located in Delhi at Rajouri Garden and Janakpuri respectively. The store launched at Sion in Mumbai is spread across 10,000 sq ft.

USL launches liquor hypermall in Bangalore Business Standard United Spirits, spirits arm of the UB group, has launched Spiritz&More @ House of Spirits, a liquor hypermall in partnership with Bangalore-based entrepreneur Subba Reddy. Spiritz&More @ House of Spirits will offer over 1,000 brands in the store. Some of the brands that will be available include Jura, W&M Special, Black Dog, Pinky vodka, Antiquity, Signature, Royal Challenge and other mid-segment and premium brands from the United Spirits portfolio.

DLF nixes mall plans, offloads Bangalore property Economic Times DLF has sold its 15-acre property in a posh Bangalore suburb after plunging footfalls and poor margins nixed the company's plans for a large-scale mall in the locality. The firm sold the land in Whitefield, to NetApp India for Rs 120 crores.

Auto retailers' india drive Economic Times A long line of car dealers including America's largest auto retailer AutoNation and UK-based multinational chain Inchcape is trying to get through to India, the world's fastest growing car market after China.

Barbie may go for sarees and bindis Economic Times To give Indian appeal with true Hamleys experience, company is planning to create India centric toys with price point that can suits to all kind of consumer.

Cinepolis ties up with World Trade Park indiaretailing.com Cinepolis, India's first international film exhibitor, announced its strategic tie-up with World Trade Park (WTP) - for its upcoming mega retail cum entertainment project in Jaipur. After the first successful launch of Cinepolis in Amritsar in December 2009, WTP Jaipur would be the company's second project in the country. The cinema is expected to open in Q3 of CY 2010.

Retail Trends

Robust GDP, higher income to push Indian retail growth: Study Daily News & Analysis The robust GDP growth, higher income levels and increasing personal consumption will accelerate the growth of the Indian retail sector, a joint study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and Retail Association of India (RAI), said. However, it also said supply-chain and operations, strategy and innovation, private labels, tax issues, workforce mangement and sustainability and green marketing, were some of the top-of-mind issues affecting retail CEOs.

Republic Day week to be most economical for shopping Economic Times Most of the retail chains have chosen Republic day week to offer a plethora of deals to give the maximum value for money to consumers. All brands and retail chains such as Vishal Mart, V Mart, Pantaloons, Lilliput, Catmoss, Cantabil, Koutons, Wills, Reebok, Adidas, Meena Bazaar, Ritu Wear, Chunmun, are offering discounts between 15% to 80% are all here in the market to attract the bargain hunters.

Retail chains want special packs mydigitalfc.com Smarting from competition from neighbourhood grocery stores, organised retail chains such as Big Bazaar, More and Spencer's are lobbying fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) giants like Procter & Gamble and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) to come out with special pack sizes of their popular brands which will be available only in the organised retail formats.

Shoppers Stop's a bridge to luxury Economic Times Leading lifestyle retailer Shoppers Stop is in expansion mode. It has drawn up plans to invest Rs 200 crore for adding 18 new stores with about Vinay Bhatia, Market VP, Shoppers Stop 3-million square feet in three years. Vice-president for Shoppers Stop, Vinay Bhatia talks about the retailer's plan to attract the young audience, bringing in international brands and the new elements in its marketing mix.

FMCG companies struggle to tackle fakes Business Standard Fake products are increasingly contaminating the Rs-1 lakh crore fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) market. Companies say most manufacturers of spurious products work in collusion with wholesalers and retailers who stock these, eventually pushing them to unsuspecting consumers, lured by the low price. The discount in price between the original and fake product is said to be 20-25 per cent. So, even as companies try getting manufacturers under their net, the distributor-retailer end is unaddressed. By some accounts, almost 10 per cent of the retail universe in the country is dealing in spurious products.

Retail Insight

Demand-Driven Retail: The New Normal JDA While savvy retailers have adjusted their product assortments to meet this regional demand, there still exists a costly disconnect among many - leading to lost revenues and less-than-satisfied customers. It's hard not wonder how much more merchandise could be sold with a more localized assortment plan; this is the preverbal "black hole" of not knowing what you don't know.